CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Hotel is defined by British law as a place where a bonfire traveler can receive food and shelter, provided he is in a position to pay and is in a fit condition to be received. Hence, a hotel provides food and beverages, and lodging to travelers on payment. In turn, it has the right to refuse a traveler is drunk, disorderly, unkempt or is not in a position to pay for the services.
The hotel industry is perhaps, one of the oldest commercial endeavors in the world. The first inns date back to the sixth century be and were the products of the urge to travel, spurred by the invention of the wheel.
The earliest hotels were managed by husband and wife teams, who provided large halls for travelers to make their own bed and sleep on the floor. The entire cooking service and recreation were provided by the husband and wife team and his family.
It was in Europe that the birth of well managed hotel industry took place on the shape of chalets and small hotels which provided variety of services. They were mainly patronized by the aristocracy of the day.
The real growth of the modern hotel industry took place in the United State of America in 1794. the real boom in hotel building came in the early twentieth century. This period also saw the beginning of chain operation under the guidance of E.M stalker. It involved big investments, big profit and trained professional to manage the business.
The management business billing of a hotel system was virtually left in the hands of the front officers. The front office in hotels is the department responsible for the scale of hotel rooms through systematic method of reservation, followed by registration and assigning of rooms to customers, it was usually done manually. This was boring and cumbersome in hotels that still operate manually today. This development in hotel business billing system continued